Gov. Bill Haslam said he does not believe Tennessee's gun laws
should be changed in the wake of last week's shooting in Newtown, Conn.,
even as he acknowledged the massacre will impact the debate over
guns-in-trunks legislation.

Haslam said he still believes schools
and universities should be able to bar their employees from bringing
their gun to work, a position that has put him at odds with some
Republicans in the state legislature. Haslam said his focus would be on
reviewing the state's mental health services.

"I don't know a lot
of legislation that I've seen would have stopped what happened there,"
Haslam told reporters Monday. "I think we'll have a national discussion.
I think it (the shooting) will be part of how we talk about that bill
in Tennessee."

President Barack Obama has hinted at a review of
the naiton's gun laws after a 20-year-old gunman killed 20 children and
six adults in Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday. But it is unclear
how the issue will play out in state capitals, where many of the
nation's gun laws are written.

Tennessee lawmakers has been
working on a measure that would require employers to allow guns in
workplace parking lots, provided their owners keep the weapons in their
vehicles. Haslam and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, the Senate leader, have
disagreed over whether schools should be exempt from the measure.

A
poll taken for Vanderbilt University before the shooting showed that 53
percent of Tennessee's registered voters support guns-in-trunks
legislation. Forty-four percent said employers should not be required by
the state to let employees keep guns in their vehicles.

Haslam told reporters after an event in the Tennessee Capitol that he would prefer the state to focus on other issues.

"That's not the first horrific incident that
we've had in America, and there's a recent poll in Tennessee that showed
most people would be in favor of letting employees keep their weapons
locked in cars on business property," Haslam added. "I don't know if
this will change."

Haslam said he plans to hold a conference on safety in schools next month, where the shooting would be discussed.